Pasåre Bolnavå

Bruce's POV

I'm sorry in advance.

I should have talked to him after what he said...

For the love of God, he was acting like he was going to commit suicide!

"Hey, I'm gonna head to the Mountain... I gotta think of something to tell the team..."

Wally was in the doorway and he paused what he was saying to look down at Dick. His eyes lowered and his whole face seemed to slouch in sadness.

It has been an hour since the conversation and though he seemed to have gotten better, he eventually fell asleep.

Now, in his sleep, he can't keep up his "I'm fine" facade.

His eyes are sunken down into his skull and he's deathly pale. We've had to add two blankets just to keep him warm. His breathing has become irregular.

"I'm... guessing he's not going to be around HQ for awhile?"

Really?!

I glare at him and he quickly leaves.

"Right, right! Dumb question!"

As soon as he leaves, Alfred comes in followed by... Jason(?)

Jason grabs the desk chair and throws himself in it, arms crossed. He won't look at me...

Alfred sets down a metal tray with a bottle and syringe at the end of Dick's bed.

"Alfred... what is that?"

I meant the needle.

"Master Dick's medicine sir."

His medicine was pills.

Alfred picks up the syringe and dips it into the bottle, filling it with an orange liquid.

"I believe having his medicine in pill form will become problematic. Such as now."

He gestured to Dick, who was heavily sleeping. I don't even think a nuclear bomb would wake him up now.

"Converting his medicine to liquid was quite easy. Although it took more than one pill to make a single dose."

Alfred gently takes Dick's right arm and injects the syringe directly into his veins.

Some color returns to his face. But it's very little. His lips are still as pale as snow.

"He looks worse than before..."

What?

"What did you say?"

Jason looks over at me and then at Dick.

"Nothing... I said nothing."

Lie

"You've known about his sickness before this. Haven't you?"

He said nothing.

"How long?"

I was Bruce Wayne at the moment... but from the look on Alfred's face I can tell I sounded like the Dark Knight.

But 'Jason' doesn't seem bothered.

"...three months."

My God...

"...how?"

Jason sighed and looked back out the window. The sun was just starting to rise.

"I've been wandering around for two years now. I was jumping roofs in Blüdhaven and saw Dick through his apartment window. I had to do a double-take. I didn't believe it was him at first. And why he would be there in a rundown apartment is beyond me."

I wince.

"That's when I saw him take the medicine. I didn't really know what he was doing at first so I came back a few more nights. Each time it was the same. On the third night I waited until he went to bed. Genius over here left his window open that night. I was finally able to read what that medication was for..."

He's hesitating...

"The medicine is called Bentacon. Its a new medicine because the disease is new. Doesn't even have an official name. And it's... fatal. I looked it up that night and learned that the medicine is not a cure. It only prolongs the inevitable."

Alfred looked at me and then at Dick. He suddenly had immense sorrow shining in his eyes.

I looked at Dick too and tried to find a trace of the strong, young man he had become. The leader and hero he is.

But all I could see was a sick man who is putting up a strong facade so as not to worry those who look up to him.

"Bruce... there's no stopping this disease."